For the third straight Cyber Monday, the NHL scored its highest-grossing online sales day ever, with this year’s merchandise haul up 14% from last year’s record-setting total. That figure is comparable to the 17.8% year-over-year increase in online retail sales on Cyber Monday reported by IBM Commerce. The league offered visitors to Shop.NHL.com 25% off of orders exceeding $25, and the top-selling items on the site were jerseys, sporting goods like street hockey gear and toys from OYO Sports and Playmobil. The Blackhawks and Rangers for the second consecutive Cyber Monday sold the most and second-most merchandise, respectively, followed by the Bruins, Penguins and Canadiens. The latter was the only new entrant into this year’s top five, replacing the Red Wings. The top-selling player jerseys this year belonged to Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews, Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist, Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane, Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin and Penguins C Sidney Crosby. NHL Group VP/Consumer Products Licensing Jim Haskins and VP/Consumer Products Licensing Dave McCarthy both pointed to newly released jerseys and merchandise for next month’s Canadiens-Bruins Winter Classic as significant sales drivers, as well as similar products for the league’s two Stadium Series games in February. McCarthy also noted that the NHL’s online store, until recently, could only offer Canadian consumers a limited inventory due to logistical issues that stemmed from having a standalone distribution center in Canada. Giving them access to the entire selection of product led to sales from Canada jumping “by double digits” on Cyber Monday.
WARRIOR SPIRIT: The NBA’s online store experienced its largest Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales days in its history over the Thanksgiving holiday, with sales for the weekend up 20% from last year. The NBA champion Warriors were the top-selling team on both days and had the top-selling player in G Stephen Curry. Seven of the top 10 items sold on Black Friday were Warriors products, while the team accounted for six of the top 10 items sold on Cyber Monday. NBAStore.com offered a 25% discount on purchases of $50 or more. That promotion ran from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. The NBA also debuted a new festive holiday spot called “One Wish” featuring Pelicans C Anthony Davis, Rockets G James Harden, Clippers C DeAndre Jordan, Spurs F Kawhi Leonard, Cavaliers F Kevin Love and Bulls C Joakim Noah. Viewers will see players asking for an adidas Christmas Day jersey, which all 10 teams playing on Dec. 25 will wear.
FULL COUNT: Shop.MLB.com also saw record sales during its holiday e-commerce program. A two-day 40%-off sale on authentic jerseys plus free shipping led to a 90% increase in year-over-year sales for the Tuesday-Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving. The sale also coincided with a limited holiday subscription to MLB.TV Premium included with any purchase beginning Black Friday. MLB.com Shop offered free shipping from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, and up to 30% off site-wide Friday through Sunday, followed by 25% off site-wide on Monday. Each of the four teams that played in the LCS -- Royals, Mets, Blue Jays and Cubs -- saw triple-digit year-over-year increases during the holiday period. Cubs 3B Kris Bryant, Nationals RF Bryce Harper and Astros SS Carlos Correa topped the sales list for player-specific items. Sales figures for MLS were unavailable as of presstime; the NFL declined to provide sales information for this piece.
